Half of California’s days with 2,000 or more new cases of COVID-19 have come in the past eight days, but so has significantly ramped-up testing for the deadly new disease.

County health departments around the state reported more than new 2,000 cases Wednesday for the second straight day and fourth time in the past eight days. The statewide total climbed to 85,957, with 11,594 of those confirmed cases in the Bay Area, according to data compiled by this news organization.

The state’s seven-day average of new cases is near its highest of the outbreak, averaging more than 1,850 each day, second only to a three-day stretch two weeks ago where the average climbed as high as 1,872. Deaths, however, have plateaued since their mid-April peak, down to about 75 new fatalities per day.

That disparity could be attributed to an increase in testing.

Labs around the state have conducted nearly 25% more tests over the past seven days (314,528) than the week prior (256,556). And the percentage to come back positive is lower, down from 4.8% to 4.1%.

For counties to receive permission to enter the advanced stage of Phase 2 in the state’s reopening plan, one requirement is to conduct at least 1.5 tests per 1,000 residents each day. In the Bay Area, only San Francisco comes close, with an average of 1.29/1,000 over the past week. During that same time, Santa Clara County has averaged 0.78 tests per 1,000 residents, Contra Costa County has averaged 0.74 tests and San Mateo County has averaged 0.60 tests. Alameda County currently has the capacity to conduct 0.60 tests per 1,000 residents, according to a county spokesperson.

Statewide, the 314,528 tests over the past week amount to 1.12 per 1,000 residents.

Statewide hospitalization levels have fallen over the past week, as well. There were 3,047 patients in hospital beds across the state Tuesday, the most recent day for which data was available, compared to 3,301 a week ago, a 7.7% decrease. In the Bay Area, hospitalizations were at their lowest levels since March before they spiked 15% on Monday. By Tuesday, the number was falling again, down to 257 across the region’s 10 counties, led by 83 in Alameda.

Counties around the state reported another 88 fatalities on Wednesday, short of the single-day mark of 122 set Tuesday. Once again, the majority of new cases and deaths were clustered among five Southern California counties, which accounted for 75% of the new cases Wednesday and 70% of the deaths.

Evan Webeck covers high-school sports on the field and beyond — and a little bit of everything else — for the Bay Area News Group. A Pacific Northwest native and graduate of Arizona State, Evan has previously worked for The Seattle Times, MLB.com and Sports Illustrated.

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